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Ham & Cheese Calzones – Low Carb and Gluten-Free

A delicious ham and cheese filling wrapped in a buttery almond flour crust. A low carb, gluten-free version of a classic! This post is sponsored by Smithfield.

I find ham kind of intimidating and I know I can’t be alone. Don’t get me wrong, it tastes great and it’s ridiculously easy to cook at home. But your typical ham is absolutely enormous and enough to feed an army. I do not have an army in my house, although I do have three children who like to battle with each other daily and sometimes I actually feel like I am in a war zone. But their little bellies can only hold so much, even if it’s something they really love to eat. And we are rarely entertaining enough people to consume the majority of a large ham in one evening. So it’s the vast amounts of leftovers that intimidate me. I am a creative person with my L.O.’s (my husband’s pet name for leftovers) but a ham can really stretch the limits of my creativity.

The folks at Smithfield have come up with a solution for us ham-loving small families. They call these small boneless hams “Anytime Favorites” and I’ve started to see them popping up in my local grocery stores. They are only a few pounds each, and are pre-sliced and ready to be warmed up and served. Even a small family could eat the majority of one in a single meal. It makes ham a much more accessible meal option than saving them exclusively for holidays and special occasions. And depending on the size of your family, you may still have a few, manageable L.O.’s to play with.

Because I do like ham leftovers and I do like to find ways to incorporate them into some fun recipes. This time I decided to get really creative and see if I could make low carb, gluten-free calzones. Because who doesn’t love a good crusty calzone? And ham and cheese just seemed like a delicious calzone filling. I thought the dough from my Bacon & Brie Tartlets might be just the right thing and hold together enough to be folded over the filling and crimped together. I increased it by 50% because I wanted BIG hearty calzones, stuffed with lots of cheese and ham. I made mine with a mix of cheddar and Swiss because that’s what I had on hand, but you can make yours with whatever cheese you love best.

And if you want a delicious marinara sauce to dip your calzones into, check out my 15 Minute Tomato Sauce on the Swerve website. It’s perfect for the cheesy, hammy goodness and the buttery crust of these low carb, gluten-free calzones.

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Smithfield. All recipes, photography, thoughts, opinions, random tangents and incoherent ramblings are my own.

Divide dough in half. Turn out first half onto a large piece of parchment paper and pat into a rough circle. Top with another piece of parchment paper and roll out into a large circle, about 12 inches in diameter (roll it out quite thinly). Remove top piece of parchment.

Sprinkle one half of the circle with about 1 & 1/2 cups of shredded cheese and 3/4 cup of chopped ham, leaving a 3/4 inch border for sealing the calzone.

Use the parchment paper to lift and gently fold the other half of the dough over the cheese and ham filling. Pinch the edges to seal and crimp it with your fingers to create a nice edge.

Repeat with remaining dough and filling. Transfer calzones, still on the parchment on to baking sheets (or one large one, if you have it).

Mix egg yolk in a small bowl and brush over the calzones.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

Recipe Notes

Serves 8. Each serving has 15 g of carbs and 8 g of fiber. Total NET CARBS = 7 g.

Nutritional Disclaimer

Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program.
I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them.
I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.

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These look absolutely delicious!! What do you think of dividing the dough into 4? Then I could split each one between two and everybody gets some of the yummy corner section 🙂 . Would you change the bake time?
Thanks

Yes, you could make them smaller without a problem. I think the bake time would be close to the same, actually. I’d start at 18 minutes or so and keep checking to see when it’s nicely browned. It’s possible you can pack more filling in too!

Well, it’s pretty filling stuff. My 6’7″ hungry husband had two sections and was surprised find himself quite full afterward. It’s a lot of calories and fat per serving. You could do 8 with a salad as a “light” lunch (I put quotes because I don’t think it’s very light!) or 6 larger servings as a heavier dinner.

Hi Louanne, I just tried it with tomato sauce (and sea food instead of ham) and the dough passed the test.

Carolyn, thank you so much for this recipe! My quest for a nice pizza dough is now over. From now on, I will use this recipe as a base for any type of pizzas. The dough is simply delicious. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Very nice. But what does the whey powder do, and are there any substitutes? If I use Cabot cheddar and find a way around the whey (Uhm, sorry…) this would also be lactose free and my wife could enjoy it.

Whey protein helps the dough rise a bit, like real pizza or calzone dough (since gluten is a protein, you need something to make up for it. But you can use other protein powders, like hemp or even powdered egg white (found in the baking aisle in many grocery stores).

Definitely as good as it looks! Made this for the family last night. Substituting powdered egg whites for the whey and using Cabot sharp cheddar, with just a touch of the 15 minute tomato sauce on the inside as well, it came in as low carb, lactose free, gluten free… are rare combination for such a tasty dish. Less than a day later and I’m already getting asked what other fillings I will try next.

Firstly, thank you so much for creating this site. You make living LC seem doable!

I have a substantial amount of weight to lose, and have opted for the LCHF approach. I recently ordered my flours, and protein powder and tried this recipe out as soon as they came. Can I say, I wasn’t too thrilled with the calzone crust at first. It did grow on me though! But after using the whey protein in another recipe, I realized that it was the taste of the protein that wasn’t really meshing with my palate. I bought the non organic version that you recommended on here. Do you know if there is a powder that doesn’t have as strong as a taste?

Carolyn,
I can’t wait to make this, I was reading the comments and want to ask you: Does the egg white powder really work in place of the protein powder? And I was going to try to use what I have which is Bob’s Red Mill almond/ meal/flour. Do you think it will work out ok? Oh yah, where can one find egg white powder? I’ve never heard of it. Thanks for your help!

Egg white powder can be found in the baking aisle in many stores (make sure the brand is not sweetened). I got mine at Whole Foods. But I don’t think Bob’s will work in this case, you really need a finer grind for this recipe.

Hi Carolyn,
me again! Looked up egg white powder online, sounds good but what I want to ask you is if this can be substituted anywhere you use the whey protein powder in your recipes? Has anyone ever found egg white powder at a grocery store or is it just online?

I found mine at Whole Foods but I’ve also seen it in one of my local regular grocery chains. And yes, you should be able to sub it whenever I use whey protein as they contain about the same amount of protein per serving. The brand I use is Deb El.

question: A lot of recipes call for whey protein powder. Is that the one that makes a drink, or just bulk powder? I cannot tolerate whey, so, I would just get a plant -based protein powder, but, I need to know which type to get. Also, is it important to the recipe, or is it just to add protein?

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